I thought this was an interesting story:

Malachi 3:3 says: ‘He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.’

This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.

One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn’t mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining Silver.

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities. 

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says:  ‘ He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.’

She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time. 

The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, ‘How do you know  when the silver is fully refined?’

He smiled at her and answered, ‘ Oh, that’s easy — when I see my image in it.’ 

Sunday was an exciting day as we celebrated the conclusion of phase one of our remodeling project.  It was a welcomed end of several months of labor for many in our church body.

As I prepared for the celebration service I was overwhelmed by the goodness of God.  Without a doubt, God’s favor has been on RFA.  Not because of any one person but because God is a good God!  Only He could accomplish what has been done these last 18 months.

We never dreamed it would be possible to pay off the church’s debt early, but God provided and it was done last year.  We would have never dreamed that we could raise money to remodel our building debt free, but God provided and it was done.

There are many times I lacked faith to present the project to the church body, but God helped me get the courage.  There were many times when I got nervous that we would run over the budget as we added new things to our remodel list, but God provided for every need.  In fact, He provided above and beyond. 

I would like to say that I am a man of great courage and faith, but I struggle at times trusting God for the big things.  But big things to me are small things to God.  I have never been let down when I have trusted God. You would think I would learn!

I am looking forward to the future as we move onto Phase 1-1/2 (we added this before we hit phase 2).  I know that God will continue to provide as we step out in faith and work on the exterior of our building.

All Glory to God for His goodness to us!

You can check out the video that we showed Sunday in our celebration service.  Click here.  It shows some great photos of the project as well as the before an after pictures.

This last week was a milestone in mine and Sonya’s relationship.  August 20th was the 20 year anninversary of our first date.  We went to Kip’s Big Boy for a Coke and then straight to the Dollar movie to see Back to the Future 2.  I knew this was the woman for me.  #1 she said yes to a date with me and #2 she went, even though I only had 5 bucks for the date.   I guess I should throw in number 3, she had to drive on our first date because my vette was broke down.  (Chevette, in case you were wondering).  We both thought the first date was a flop.  We had been friends for quite some time but when it became a date, somehow we both changed.  We didn’t know what to talk about anymore.

Three days later we went on our second date and the rest is history.  Just for Nostalgia’s sake: August 23rd was the 20 year anniversary of our first kiss (I threw that in just to spark your comments).  You should never kiss on the first date by the way.  Chilvary is always the best way.

20 years later we are happily married.  Neither one of us thought we would have made it this far.  On that first date 20 years ago, neither one of us dreamed we would ever be married to one another.  When we got hitched, most people didn’t think we would make it.  The statistics are against married couples.  But marriage is work!  It has never been easy.  There have been lots of arguments or heated discussions.  Many trying times, but never has divorce been an option.  It takes work to stay married.  20 years later, we look back and have seen many more good times than bad.  God has been good to us! After all, He let me marry the woman of my dreams!

It has been hot lately, but I always remember it is hotter in Texas.  Received this picture by email.  It has been so hot, even the ice cream trucks are melting.

I used to drink alot of soft drinks but I switched to unsweet tea.  Joe Thorn had an interesting diagram of the effects of soft drinks on the body.  Made me stop and think a little.

Saturday we had a workday to tackle a few of the finishing details in our building.  I  decided to work on repairing a sheetrock seam where the tape was coming loose.  One of the guys suggested I use caulk to hold it up.  I am not the greatest caulker so I decided to do it my way.

God invented Gorilla Glue to hold just about anything.  It was the perfect thing for this project.  I started applying the glue to the sheetrock tape and it began to drip.  Instead of letting it drop on the new floor, I made sure to catch it with my hands.  It dripped and dripped and dripped and dripped, until my hands were covered with Gorilla Glue.

This article should be a testimonial for Gorilla Glue.  That stuff works.  Well, it seems to work better on hands than it does on sheetrock.  Since, I have an incredible fear of sticky stuff (stickyphobia), I rushed to the bathroom to wash my hands.  It didn’t work!

My hands remained sticky for some time.  The bottle of Gorilla Glue says to wash off with soap and water.  Oh sure, that sounds easy.  I tried soap and water, mineral spirits, turpentine, super Castrol garage floor cleaner and paint thinner.  Finally, after the last coat of chemicals, the stickiness was alleviated.  However, three days later, I am still peeling glue off of my hands.  I wish I would have listened to the advice just to use caulk.  That comes off with soap and water.

How often do we not follow the advice of godly counsel and find ourselves in sticky situations?  How many times have we read correction in the Word of God and not heeded it and gone down the wrong path? 

So many of our problems would not have happened if we would have followed the counsel and advice of the Wonderful Counselor.  Sticky situations usually happen because we have done the wrong thing and complicated our lives.  Life would be so much less sticky, if we would only live by the Word and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.  Life will never be easy, but it would be easier if we wouldn’t get ourselves in sticky messes.  Some of the holes we dig ourselves into are tougher to overcome than Gorilla Glue.  From now on, I am going to follow advice…

What are you afraid of?

Many people today are scared to death of being used by God. Countless numbers are afraid to respond to God’s call upon their heart, afraid that they will not succeed. The fact is, if God called you, He will equip you. It is only natural to feel inadequate when we know God has appointed us for a work. No matter the task, God is well able to see us through and cause us to be successful at whatever we attempt for Him.

Paul in writing to Timothy said, "That is why I would remind you to stir up – rekindle the embers, fan the flame and keep burning – the [gracious] gift of God, [the inner fire] that is in you by means of the laying on of my hands [with those of the elders at your ordination] For God did not give us a spirit of timidity – of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear – but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control." II Timothy 1:6-7 AMPLIFIED BIBLE

Timothy was also struggling with the same feelings you do. Paul reminds Him that this fear is not of God, but God gives us the power to do the work, the love for His work, and the sound mind to settle our fears. What hinders you? The enemy of our souls would have you to be blind in fear, crippled by inadequacy, and maimed by his lies. If you feel God leading you to do something, you are positioned for success when you answer the call. God has it all planned out for you and wants you to respond. Your frame of mind should continue to be, "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. I am more than a conqueror through Christ who loves me. I am the head and not the tail, above and not beneath, blessed and not cursed." Remember you are chosen by the Almighty; answer the call and change the world. Can one person change the world? Yes, Jesus did. Now go proclaim Him!

Yesterday, Josh and I took our first Tae-Kwon-Do lesson.  What a blast!  To understand what that means, I must take you back 25 years to my childhood.  I was a kung-fu nut.  Every Saturday, I would watch the kung-fu movies religiously.  I wanted to be Bruce Lee.  My secret desire was to be a ninja.  Well, that is not my secret desire anymore but it would be cool to be a ninja. 

Back to the story.  When Josh asked if we could do Tae-Kwon-Do, I was reminded of my childhood dreams.  So, I instantly said yes and we started our lessons. 

It was an incredible time, however, there was a little intimidation.  It was quite humbling to be in a room with 7 to 47 year olds and the 7 year olds are a higher belt class than Josh and I.  Not to mention, there was a 12 year old black belt.  In other words, there were some young kids in there that could probably take me out. 

When you start a class like this, they do not go by age, but by knowledge and skill.  In fact, I can almost guarantee that most of these kids in the room, looked at me and thought, “How come the chubby guy can’t kick above his belt?  Why does he groan when we do the kicking exercises?”  My friends, I am out of shape.  Or as a friend of mine says, “I am a shape: round!”

Thinking about these things makes me ponder how often we are as Christians.  Out of shape!  We can become spiritually lazy and get out of spiritual shape.  We are not as sharp in the Word as we used to be or our prayer life is lacking.  We lack the discipline to keep our inner life in tip top shape because we neglect it.

As believers, it is similar to the Tae-Kwon-Do class.  A 7 year old that is in shape can be superior to a 38 year old out of shape.  We are supposed to continue to grow closer to the Lord and more knowledgeable of His Word, but if we are honest, sometimes, kids know more than us.  Study to show yourselves approved a workman does not need to be ashamed. We must rightly divide the Word of Truth.